Free Settler or Felon
Convict and Colonial History




Convict Ship Westmoreland - 1835


Embarked: 220 men
Voyage: 128 days
Deaths: 2
Surgeon's Journal: yes
Previous vessel: Marquis of Huntley arrived 5 July 1835
Next vessel: Hero arrived 31 August 1835
Master John Brigstock
Surgeon Charles Inches
Convicts and passengers of the Westmoreland identified in the Hunter Valley region


Some of the convicts transported on the Westmoreland had been tried and convicted at the Old Bailey and imprisoned at Newgate before being sent to the hulks. Select here to find out what it may have been like to be imprisoned in Newgate in 1835.

Military Guard

Major Massiter and Lieut. Charles Ferdinand Hamilton Smith commanded the Guard. The Freeman';s Journal reported on 27 February 1835 that the first detachment of the 28th regiment at Chatham, consisting of two officers, one serjeant, two corporals and twenty-six privates, embarked on the Westmoreland on Saturday 21st February 1835.

Departure

The Westmoreland departed London on 9th March and Land's End 21st March 1835.

Surgeon Charles Inches

Charles Inches kept a Medical Journal from 25 February to 28 July 1835. There were two fatal cases. The first one was William Walls, a small farmer who was transported for shooting a man. He had been confined in prison for a long time and was subject to great depression of spirits from being separated from his wife and family. He died of pneumonia/ phthisis on 13th May. The second was Edmund Price who died on 15 July from complications of scurvy.

Charles Inches' Journal -

During the latter two or three weeks of the voyage, symptoms of scurvy began to be observed in a number of the prisoners of whom one case alone have I particularised in this journal. It was the most advanced but was readily checked in progress by increased allowance of lime juice and the use of preserved meats. Of both these comforts I had fortunately been sparing in use, during the early part of the passage which enabled me to be more liberal in their supply to those cases which really required them and their beneficial effects were very manifest in putting a stop to the progress of the disease. Two days before arrival in Sydney the preserved meats were all expended as well a quantity of ? which the Master of the ship had procured at the Cape Verdi and which he kindly allowed to the sick, and had we been a short time only, later arriving in Sydney, I doubt not this horrid malady would have speedily extended.

Some of the soldiers mentioned in Charles Inches' Medical Journal were:
Lieut. Smith aged 25;
Private John Sullivan aged 32;
Private John Draper aged 22;
Private George McMurray aged 21;
William Badder aged 25;
Private Martin Carlton aged 32;
Sergeant Francis McKowan.

Free Passengers

Passengers included Rev. James Wynne, eight soldiers' wives and fifteen children; Miss Mary Clarke and Miss Margaret Clarke, who had remained on the Island of St. Jago after the wreck of Sir Thomas Munro, by which ship they were passengers.

Port Jackson

The Westmoreland arrived in Port Jackson on 15 July 1835 with 218 convicts and government stores.

Notes and Links

1). The Westmoreland, Capt. Brigstock previously made a voyage to New South Wales in 1833. One of the passengers from England, John Stephen endured a miserable voyage under Capt. Brigstock. His later appeal to the Courts can be read here. The Westmoreland departed Port Jackson in July 1833 and passed through the Great Barrier Reef on her passage to Calcutta.

2). John Brigstock served as Midshipman on the Eurotas under Captain Phillimore in 1814. (The Naval History of Great Britain). He was wounded in the attempt to take the French frigate Clorinde and later awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp 'EUROTAS 25 FEBY. 1814' which was given to all still surviving members of Eurotas' crew that had participated in the action.

3). Convicts and passengers of the Westmoreland identified in the Hunter Valley region

4). Charles Inches was also employed as surgeon on the convict ships William Glen Anderson in 1831 (to VDL), Portland in 1833 and the John in 1837

5). Convict ships bringing detachments of the 28th regiment included Recovery, Marquis of Huntley, Charles Kerr, Westmoreland, Norfolk, Backwell, England, John Barry, Susan, Waterloo, Moffatt, Strathfieldsaye, Portsea and Lady McNaughten

Marquis of Huntley 1835 Recovery 1836 Charles Kerr 1837 Westmoreland Norfolk Backwell England John Barry Susan Waterloo Moffatt Strathfieldsaye Portsea Lady McNaughten Convict Ships 1835 - 28th regiment guard